Expat Community > Panama

FutureDays
Joined 2021
Posts: 8

Pensionado Qualification Question

3 years ago

Thank you to all who replied to my FN questions. We decided not to rush and pursue it but as we looked deeper into the pensionado program, we may actually qualify for it sooner than we thought. For those of you on pensionado, can you offer any feedback on the below information/questions?

My husband has a state government 401a pension program comprised of two parts:

1. A pension plan for life that can start at age 55 or ideally not until 65 with prorated distribution possible in between those ages. We of course don’t want to draw on this portion of the DRS program until age 60 at least, ideally 65. We would be moving to Panama at age 50 give or take and therefore still need to demonstrate solvency via a government retirement account for 10-15 years to qualify for pensionado. This is where the second part comes in.

2. A defined contribution part of that same program that is comprised of 22 years of his contributions. This portion can be drawn upon at any time after he leaves employment without any penalty other than associated taxes. It is likely enough to cover a $15,000 draw for the first 15 years. It is invested in mutual funds and such. To the casual observer, this looks a lot like a 401k (which concerns us), but it is in fact part of the state pension program. Would this be accepted?

It seems to us that both parts of this pension program could meet the definition of “Government Retirement Account” required by the pensionado program. Part 2 would easily get us through the first 10-15 years drawing the required $15k per year to qualify. After that, the Part 1 would more than satisfy the requirements once we are in our 60s.

We would like to determine if this is the case with more certainty. What type of documentation is required to get a confident determination that this approach will work? Can we get that confidence prior to applying presumably from a lawyer?

Sorry for the detail and again appreciate any feedback!

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Pensionado Qualification Question

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